"I hate this place," Sebastian muttered, holding out a potato chip to the bright green creature that always looked like a rather large apple with arms and legs. Without hesitation, the junimo took the potato chip to eat.

"Who are you talking to?"

Sebastian startled, turning to look at his fellow coworker. His corner of his mouth twitched, his mind recognizing the wavy bob from two desks to his right yet he couldn't remember the name, nor could he remember the names of any of the other coworkers who were for some reason watching, as if waiting for her to join them for lunch.

"I don't think anybody likes working for Joja corporation, to be honest," his coworker said, oblivious to the junimo sitting on his desk.

"Remember, Sebastian. Nobody else can see them. Nobody except for the wizard that everyone else back in the valley said must be a part of my over active imagination." He let out a sigh. "Need something?"

"Would you like to join us for lunch? You're always eating on your own?"

Sebastian turned his head, looking at her again, noticing the way his other coworkers continued to glare at him, obviously not wanting him to join them as she did. He turned back to his computer, pulling the keyboard closer. "I've work to do. Sorry."

"I see. Rain check then," she said.

Sebastian didn't respond, instead diving into the extra work assigned to him simply because he made the mistake the first day of showing just how efficient he could be at the work they did. Eventually, he held another chip to the jumino, frowning. "Never said I'd go the next time, did I?" He leaned back in his chair. "Anyways. I need to get this report printed out and turned in to upper management. You coming?"

He held out his hand allowing the jumino to run up his arm to his shoulder, chirping in excitement at the sound the printer made.

"It's not that exciting," Sebastian said, collecting the papers so he could turn them in. "There's nothing exciting about this job after all. It's..."

"About the jumino."

Sebastian turned towards the open door of the conference room, frowning. He stepped forward as the jumino on his shoulder began to shake. He reached his free hand up to try and calm the magical creature down.

"None of the residents of Pelican Town can see them," the man said, showing whoever else was in the room pictures of the small town Sebastian's family lived in, resulting in his jaw dropping. "So nobody will realize our real goal there is to capture the ones there so that we can harness their energy. I mean...."

The man stopped speaking, looking right at Sebastian, their eyes narrowing. "No," Sebastian thought to himself as the jumino on his shoulder chirped in horror. "I'm not the one they're looking at."

The man reached towards the phone system near him, pushing a button and said, "Security."

"Fuck," Sebastian muttered under his breath, dropping the papers onto the floor. He took off, heading for the stairs. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see the man stepping out of the conference room, stepping on the papers Sebastian just dropped as Sebastian slammed the stairway door open. The jumino chirped in distress at the loud sound the door made while one of his hands reached up to make sure the creature was still safe on his shoulder before he started heading down the stairs.

The sound of another door opening down below made him freeze, realizing where the security officers for Joja were.

"Fuck!" Sebastian said, not loud enough for them to hear. He quickly turned and headed up the stairs instead of down, his ears discerning the sound of the security officers footsteps following him. Quickly, he pushed a door two floors up open and left the stair way. His head darted around, one of his hands stroking the jumino. "It's going to be alright. We'll figure something out, right?"

He took off again, weaving inbetween the cubicles where a few fellow employees were still at work, skipping their lunch break as well. Sebastian took a deep breath, mentally noting the way they looked up at him.

"This is really fucked up," Sebastian muttered as he came to the conference rooms on that floor, skidding to a stop upon realizing the hall dead ended at the window. He could hear the security guards coming towards him as he walked over to the window, noticing the rooftop of the nearby building. He swallowed nervously, glancing at the nearby conference rooms to see if there was any place to hide.

"I didn't realize one of our employees was a magic user."

Sebastian tensed upon recognizing the voice of the person from the conference room where they were discussing the fate of the jumino that lived in the forests near his small town. He turned with his back to the window, frowning. He noticed the security officers looking at each other in confusion. The corner of his mouth twitched in amusment. "What are you talking about?"

As the jumino chirped nervously next to his ear, the man pointed at the creature. "You wouldn't be able to see them if you weren't able to use magic, right?"

Sebastian frowned, unsure of what the man was saying. "See what?"

"You know what I'm talking about, but more importantly, do you think there is any escape from you? We have you cornered. You and that jumino."

His eyes narrowed. His mouth twisted into a grin. "You're right."

"Excuse me."

"I am a magic user," Sebastian said, holding the palm of his right hand against the window. "Which in turn means I am not cornered as a normal person would be."

The window pane exploded outward, resulting in the security officers diving for the floor in response as the man stared at him wide-eyed.

"Hold on tight," Sebastian said to the jumino on his shoulder, taking a few steps toward the security guards.

"Don't just cower there!" the man said.

The security officers stood, having recovered from seeing the glass exploding. Sebastian turned and ran, hoping he'd judged the distance correctly, and then—

Then he jumped.

There was the rushing of air, the feeling of free falling. He felt his heart pound in his chest as the roof of the nearby building sped closer.

And then he slammed into it, a groan of pain escaping.

The world went blank for a few minutes, but eventually, he heard someone giving orders from above. "Get over there! Don't let him escape."

"But that building..."

Sebastian stood up and headed towards the door from the roof into the building he'd managed to jump to. "Bless the stars being aligned."

The jumino chirped in his ear.

"You alright?" he asked, turning his head. Then the laugh came. "I'm fine. I'll be fine. We can't stay here, though. In Zuzu city, that is."